SOCIALLY AWKWARD

06. Yellow Hearts

The players of Nekoma scattered onto their seats around their usual table in the cafeteria, Kuroo placing a tray in front of Kenma before taking his place beside him.

Despite the clamor surrounding him, the latter hadn't bothered looking up from his video game, and it wasn't till Yaku sternly ordered him to eat that he set it aside with a sigh.

It had been four days now that he'd gone back to his old routine of joining his teammates on lunch break and walking home with them instead of Ameri, and the reason was unknown to all.

Kuroo had asked Kenma about it the first day, but not even he seemed to know the reason. Ameri had simply come to class after that weekend and had not acknowledged him all day, and, being the ball of anxiety and self-consciousness that he was, Kenma had taken the hint and left her alone, not even trying to approach her and get an explanation.

As Kenma picked at his food in silence and the others chatted, Kuroo kept his guard up—like he'd been doing since Kenma's return. And, as usual, Ameri appeared not long after, her gaze landing on their group the moment she passed the entrance before she scurried away to wait in line.

Kuroo often wondered if she realized that she wasn't sly at all; that didn't seem to matter, though, because his friend was as oblivious as they come. But her recurrent gesture led him to believe that she still cared despite the drastic shift in her behavior.

"Kenma!" shouted Bokuto as he pointed at the setter when the Fukurodani and Nekoma players were heading out of Nekoma High after a practice match later that day. "You were gloomy today! Well, even more gloomy, 'cuz you're always gloomy."

"Gloomier," corrected Akaashi.

"You were even more gloomier."

Akaashi facepalmed.

"Your opponents will wipe the floor with you if you don't get your shit—" Bokuto was interrupted when Akaashi pulled him away and sent Kenma an apologetic smile.

Kuroo managed to step in and help keep the bubbly ace occupied for the rest of the road, though his thoughts were all on Kenma.

Kuroo knew that any advice for him to confront Ameri would fall on deaf ears and had initially decided not to bring the topic up again. Since Kenma's performance hadn't been visibly affected and his disposition was naturally detached, he'd surmised that there was no need to meddle any further and blow the matter out of proportion. But if the unaware Emo King himself had sensed that Kenma was out of sorts, then action needed to be taken.

As they parted ways with the others, Kuroo invited himself over to Kenma's and, after lying on his bed for some time while the latter was engrossed in his gaming, dared to venture to the subject again.

"Why don't you ask her what's wrong?"

"I already know, so why even bother."

Even Kuroo had warned him not to let it get into him in the beginning. The fact that he had been so naïve and still allowed himself to think her motives were any different was what upset him the most.

"Hey," Kuroo moved to perch beside him and nudged him, "you know that's not true, right? If that's all she's been after she would've stopped hanging out with you long ago. It's clear she really liked your company."

Kenma gave no answer.

"Just text her and ask her to meet up."

Kenma shook his head, and despite all of his pleas and entreaties to convince him to reach out to her, Kuroo had left his house that evening without much success.

"He thinks it's just 'cause she wanted to make you jealous and get closer to you," Kuroo said to Yaku the next day as they lagged behind the others in the locker room before practice.

"I mean, that's what we all thought at first, but it's been a while since she last tried anything with me."

"That's what I told him too. But I know he doesn't believe it."

"Should we just ask her?" Yaku suggested.

"No, he won't like it. And the last thing I want is unnecessary drama between us right before nationals. We're lucky he doesn't easily get affected by shit like this and is still on top of his game."

"You're right. But what could've happened to make her take a 180? You think he did something?"

"I highly doubt it," Kuroo mused. "But even if he did unintentionally do something, she isn't thin-skinned. It'd really take a lot to make her act this way."

Yaku hummed in agreement as he folded his school uniform and placed it inside his locker with a dejected sigh. "They looked so cute, though; I was actually rooting for them."

Kuroo chuckled lightly as he moved to sit on the floor while he waited for Yaku to finish dressing.

"Anyway, training camp is coming up, so I guess Kenma has that to look forward to," Yaku said.

"Yeah, seeing Hinata again will definitely take his mind off of this for a while."

As Yaku took out his sports shorts and t-shirt, a piece of paper fell on the floor.

"What's that?" Kuroo asked.

"No idea. Must be one of Ameri's old letters," Yaku said as he bent down and picked it up.

Snatching the bright yellow envelope from his hand, Kuroo flipped it around. "This says, 'To Kenma.'"